Dark Horse Distillery Reserve Bourbon Whiskey

Although I’ve had bourbon before and very much enjoy it, since starting this blog I have yet to write about an actual bourbon tasting. I am very excited to be changing that today and doing it with bourbon I had never heard about. To me trying a brand I’ve never heard about is always a treat and something I look forward to.

When I think of Bourbon, I think Kentucky or Tennessee, but never Kansas. Currently my friend Fiona and her husband are stationed in Kansas. During her last visit back to the East Coast she was kind enough to bring me a Kansas Bourbon Whiskey knowing how much I love the gift of whiskey.

Out of all the whiskey’s I’ve talked about on this blog, this is the youngest I’ve tasted. Dark Horse is a bourbon whiskey distillery in Kansas and they have been making bourbon whiskey since 2010. From their range Fiona brought me their Reserve Bourbon Whiskey.

This reserve has an ABV of 44.5% and has a nice dark amber color to it. The smell is very strong with hints of maple. I tasted this bourbon whiskey in two ways:

Neat: The taste was very woodsy, raw and a tad bit smoky but the smoke was not too overwhelming

Splash of water: With the splash of water I taste vanilla. The bourbon also became very smooth and light.

Although I’ve always been a neat girl, I’ve got to say that this one bourbon I prefer with a splash of water. It was then that I really tasted more of the bourbon. Comparing it to all the tasting I’ve written about, this bourbon just had simplicity to it. Its simplicity however didn’t take away from its craftsmanship. To me it was different from all the other bourbons I had tasted.

Overall, the thing I now keep in mind is that Kentucky and Tennessee aren’t the only states that I should think about when considering bourbon.